A wide variety of astrophysical and cosmological sources are expected to contribute to a stochastic gravitational-wave background. Following the observations of GW150914 and GW151226, the rate and mass of coalescing binary black holes appear to be greater than many previous expectations. As a result, the stochastic background from unresolved compact binary coalescences is expected to be particularly loud. We perform a search for the isotropic stochastic gravitational-wave background using data from Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory's (aLIGO) first observing run. The data display no evidence of a stochastic gravitational-wave signal. We constrain the dimensionless energy density of gravitational waves to be ?₀<1.7x10^-7 with 95% confidence, assuming a flat energy density spectrum in the most sensitive part of the LIGO band (20-86 Hz). This is a factor of ~33 times more sensitive than previous measurements. We also constrain arbitrary power-law spectra. Finally, we investigate the implications of this search for the background of binary black holes using an astrophysical model for the background.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	Gravitational wave, Stochastic gravitational-wave background, Advanced LIGO
Research Division:	Physical Sciences
Research Group:	Astronomical sciences
Research Field:	General relativity and gravitational waves
Objective Division:	Expanding Knowledge
Objective Group:	Expanding knowledge
Objective Field:	Expanding knowledge in the physical sciences
UTAS Author:	Siellez, K (Dr Karelle Siellez)
ID Code:	152123
Year Published:	2017
Web of Science® Times Cited:	173
Deposited By:	Physics
Deposited On:	2022-08-11
Last Modified:	2022-09-28
Downloads:	0